Subject to the following provisions, a company limited by shares or limited by guarantee and having a share capital shall not acquire its own shares, whether by purchase, subscription or otherwise.
If a company purports to act in contravention of this section, the company is liable to a fine, and every officer of the company who is in default is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both; and , subject to subsection (2A), the purported acquisition is void.
Where a company purchases qualifying shares out of distributable profits under section 162, any contravention by the company of any provision of section 162B(1) or (2) shall not render the acquisition void under subsection (2) above.
A company limited by shares may acquire any of its own fully paid shares otherwise than for valuable consideration; and subsection (1) does not apply in relation to—